Sneak Thieves

[Dan McDonough 560]

So, like so may people, I first got interested in lurchers while reading Plummer's books. A couple of things that caught my imagination were chapter 9 in Merle when Plummer talked about a dog that was a natural sneak thief. He referred to that type of dog as being a Kannecour (Sp.?) saying, that's what the Gypsies called them.

 

What do you folks know about this type of dog? Any stories would be appreciated.

 

I had a whippet that would steal all manner of things when he was young and hide them in peculiar places. I didn't realize fully how to train a dog of this type to take advantage of his "talents" as he was one of my first sighthounds and I was just concentrating on training him to hunt.

 

I have a friend that had seen a dog back quite a few years during his youth. This dog was a known thief and was banned from the all stores in they town where they lived. My fried was 8 years old at the time so he doesn't remember a lot of details. What he does remember is that a man from the circus would come over to get drunk with his grandfather and he always had Mr. Humbles with him. Mr. Humbles was not to be trusted and would take your things if you put them down and were not looking. Mr. Humbles would steal anything his owner would touch and more. He could also be told what to steal and knew the names of quite a few different items. That's about all of the information I got from my friend so far except that Mr. Humbles looked like a collie but was larger (taller maybe). My obvious guess would be that Mr. Humbles was just a collie lurcher, something of which those folks knew nothing about at the time.

[terryd 8,504]

the wife left some toast on a plate by the chair today went to the kitchen and peeped round the corner. The lurchers wandered over to the plate had a little sniff then looked over his shoulder. Saw the wife look so then nonchalantly wandered off whistling lol

[Gaz_1989 9,539]

My brindle bitch is terrible. Lost count of the things she's stolen over the past few years. Usually food but anything what takes her fancy.

 

A few times I've left food defrosting on the oven, covered with another plate or piece of tin foil only to come home and find the food missing yet the cover perfectly in place.

 

She's also got a knack of opening the living room door to go and sleep on the sofa, but she closes the door behind her fully.

[forest of dean redneck 11,634]

I can't remember the name,but I thought it was regarding dogs that stole farmyard fowl etc for like the canal bargees to eat ? My labradoodle will pull food down off worktop an eat it,if kids leave their meal to go toilet an she's in,she will try an rob that.

[neil cooney 10,416]

It shouldn't make sense but I blame the Greyhound blood.

Every lurcher I've ever had was a thief of some sort and breeding wise the only common denominator was the greyhound. Wheaten, Bull, Deerhound, Bedlington, Collie and others and they were all thieves. But they all had Greyhound in them.

The lurcher I have now catches rats around my chicken pens and sneaks out into a field and buries them, when she thinks no one's watching.

[fireman 10,930]

Own a aussie cattle dog and you have an animal allmost as clever as you are and they can sure test the patients at times .I had a pure bitch at mine to whelp a litter of lurchers and also had a few game birds at the bottom of the garden and a ferret court/aviary full of ferrets,the acd used to sit and watch the chooks for hours wanting to get stuck it but knowing she'd get it if she did.Well one night i heard my chooks going mental and went out to look what was up and the acd bitch had pulled the wire on the ferret court and released them,they then went and had some ferrety fun with my chooks and the acd bitch had then got in under the fence and joined in the carnage ignoring the ferrets like she allways had done,mind you the trail of feathers and dead chooks all the way back to her box with her pups in would have given her away had i not caught her getting back out the chook pen under the wire ..

[Dan McDonough 560]

Liking the stories. Keep them coming and don't hold the pictures back. Even if these traits are a pain in the butt, it sure makes for a memorable dog...wouldn't you agree?

[leethedog 3,071]

I had a Jack Russell a few years back who could be trusted with anything except chickens he wouldn't hurt them just grab them and feck off with them.he wouldn't even look at a pheasant

[krawnden 1,036]

It shouldn't make sense but I blame the Greyhound blood.

Every lurcher I've ever had was a thief of some sort and breeding wise the only common denominator was the greyhound. Wheaten, Bull, Deerhound, Bedlington, Collie and others and they were all thieves. But they all had Greyhound in them.

The lurcher I have now catches rats around my chicken pens and sneaks out into a field and buries them, when she thinks no one's watching.

 

I had a greyhound bitch that lived in. Like Gaz said above about his brindle bitch , she was adept at stealing food without making it look like she had. I remember one time the missus had prepared a whole load of peppers for roasting. Those large, red long ones about the size of your hand. Each one was halved lengthways then the insides were stuffed with some sort of cheesy mix. She'd got a whole load of these on a roasting tray about to go in the oven when the phone rang. She nipped next door to answer it, passing the greyhound who'd been lying on her bed watching. The missus came back though about 90 seconds later, passing the greyhound on her bed, and went straight to put the peppers, which had been left on the kitchen worktop, into the oven. The tray itself was in exactly the same place it had been, as was every one of the peppers. But the cheesy stuffing mix from every pepper had gone. In the time she'd been out of the room the greyhound had very delicately snaffled all the stuffing and gone straight back onto her bed to make it look like she'd never moved.

 

Over the years she played several variations of this trick and we got to learn that if she was on her bed whilst any sort of food preparation was going on, you could guarantee that she'd clocked it. She'd never move a muscle while anybody was around, but if you went out of the kitchen and left the food unattended you could guarantee she'd have it.

[3175darren 1,100]

My cattle dog x is a very good theif, you don't see him do it, things just disappear then turn up in the oddest of places some times untouched and some times chewed, I used to think it was a seperation thing, as in anxiety, but there's no rhyme or reason to what he will take,

[neil cooney 10,416]

 

It shouldn't make sense but I blame the Greyhound blood.

Every lurcher I've ever had was a thief of some sort and breeding wise the only common denominator was the greyhound. Wheaten, Bull, Deerhound, Bedlington, Collie and others and they were all thieves. But they all had Greyhound in them.

The lurcher I have now catches rats around my chicken pens and sneaks out into a field and buries them, when she thinks no one's watching.

 

I had a greyhound bitch that lived in. Like Gaz said above about his brindle bitch , she was adept at stealing food without making it look like she had. I remember one time the missus had prepared a whole load of peppers for roasting. Those large, red long ones about the size of your hand. Each one was halved lengthways then the insides were stuffed with some sort of cheesy mix. She'd got a whole load of these on a roasting tray about to go in the oven when the phone rang. She nipped next door to answer it, passing the greyhound who'd been lying on her bed watching. The missus came back though about 90 seconds later, passing the greyhound on her bed, and went straight to put the peppers, which had been left on the kitchen worktop, into the oven. The tray itself was in exactly the same place it had been, as was every one of the peppers. But the cheesy stuffing mix from every pepper had gone. In the time she'd been out of the room the greyhound had very delicately snaffled all the stuffing and gone straight back onto her bed to make it look like she'd never moved.

 

Over the years she played several variations of this trick and we got to learn that if she was on her bed whilst any sort of food preparation was going on, you could guarantee that she'd clocked it. She'd never move a muscle while anybody was around, but if you went out of the kitchen and left the food unattended you could guarantee she'd have it.

 

I rest my case about Greyhounds being natural born thieves .

[CushtyJook 1,097]

We used to live next to a farm the dogs would roam the farm when we met them out the farmers where friendly with us and we where friendly with them and my old lurcher would bring back blocks of cheese lumps of ham milk even once a whole calfs leg and found him once guarding a roe kid on s grassy bank

[Phil Lloyd 10,738]

So, like so may people, I first got interested in lurchers while reading Plummer's books. A couple of things that caught my imagination were chapter 9 in Merle when Plummer talked about a dog that was a natural sneak thief. He referred to that type of dog as being a Kannecour (Sp.?) saying, that's what the Gypsies called them.

 

What do you folks know about this type of dog? Any stories would be appreciated.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi Dan,...I think the type of Jukel you are thinking of, would be a Kannichorer,..(Kannies being Pheasants or domestic fowl)...

Edited June 21, 2016 by Phil Lloyd

[trenchfoot 4,243]

My old collie cross was caught a few times knicking food from other peoples kitchens. never ours though, leave a plate unattended all day and you snap would still be on it when you got back, but if she was out and about she was not adverse to jumping fences and through open doors to get to a pan of bacon on the go.

 

And the old collie bitch I have now has been as much trouble. Disappeared into a new housing estate, came back 5 minutes alter with a slice of warm, freshly buttered toast. Sat and offered it me like a gun dog would a pheasant.

[Dan McDonough 560]

 

So, like so may people, I first got interested in lurchers while reading Plummer's books. A couple of things that caught my imagination were chapter 9 in Merle when Plummer talked about a dog that was a natural sneak thief. He referred to that type of dog as being a Kannecour (Sp.?) saying, that's what the Gypsies called them.

 

What do you folks know about this type of dog? Any stories would be appreciated.

Hi Dan,...I think the type of Jukel you are thinking of, would be a Kannichorker,..(Kannies being Pheasants or domestic fowl)... I've owned a few mouching curs that enjoyed a steal...

 

Some dogs become so in tune with their owners, that they are easily encouraged to chor a certain item.

 

 

 

Thanks for the correct spelling, I never was sure of it. At least now I can see if it generates some more information on the net.